


gold

by moonlitwriting



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:36:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28849950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlitwriting/pseuds/moonlitwriting
Summary: despite the soulmate bond, you and kageyama still work through the intricacies of learning to love.
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Reader
Kudos: 37





	gold

**Author's Note:**

> cross-posted from my blog, by-moonflower.tumblr.com!

you found out kageyama tobio was your soulmate on the last day of school. of the three years you’ve spent there, merely knowing him as an acquaintance—or a classmate, at best—you never thought there would be enough space or time to meet someone of that caliber.

you always heard that soulmates were supposed to be of magic. that your other would fill in your empty spaces (you never thought you had missing pieces of yourself), that your other would bring out your best (you argued that no one knew your potential better than you) and that your other would love you more than you could love yourself ( _that_ , you never really thought about).

but kageyama tobio looked nothing like the shining, faceless figure that you sometimes daydreamed about and he came to you simply by rushing into the school clinic and politely, albeit slightly shouting, requesting a bandaid.

you laid on one of the clinic’s beds to nurse a throbbing headache when he barged in with a scraped knee. the nurse’s assistant kindly asked him to take a seat first because handing him a bandaid for a bloodied knee won’t be good. he looked like he was in a hurry but took the only available seat anyway, one by the foot of your bed.

the assistant hurried out, maybe to call the nurse, and you were left to deal with the awkward company. kageyama peered over at his knee and noticed that a small trickle of blood was running down his leg. you saw it first, really, which was why you already grabbed for the small box of tissues by your bedside and handed it to him before he could ask.

at that moment, your pinky finger accidentally brushed against his and the white band that encircled it began to glow golden. the light was faint and it felt like nothing at all but it mirrored kageyama’s pinky finger, which glowed golden too, and your eyes met with the realization that you were soulmates.

the story usually ends there when you find your soulmate but the days go by with an added weight on your shoulder as you stumble through the pleasantries and delicacy of building a relationship with someone you’re _supposed_ to be with.

you were at a loss for what was the right thing to do and kageyama didn’t know better either.

shortly after graduation, kageyama—in his best attempt—asked you to go with him to a volleyball game he wanted to see. you knew nothing about the sport but you had to give him credit for being the one to ask you first, despite noticing the way his knuckles turned white as he fisted the end of his shirt and how he actively had to stop his knee from shaking.

at the game, kageyama had his full attention on the court and you were pretty sure he had forgotten your presence entirely, when he stood up to stand by the railings and you remained in your front row seat. but you didn’t mind it. instead of attempting to focus on the sweaty men passing around a ball over a net (you didn’t think you could understand the game through observation anyway), you studied kageyama.

his hair stayed in place under the white baseball cap, occasionally falling into his eyes. he brushed them away with a shake of his head, as opposed to using his hands and you caught the way his lips moved and sometimes mouthed things inaudibly.

when there were good plays, which you judged from the roaring cheers of the audience, the ends of kageyama’s lips turned up slightly and you thought that was the best he offered for a smile. when there were not-so-good plays, which you judged entirely from kageyama’s cloudy expression, his frown would deepen (more than usual).

but he must’ve sensed your staring because kageyama suddenly glanced over his shoulder at you and froze when you made eye-contact. you both turned away sheepishly and you raced through a list of excuses to let him know that you were definitely _not_ staring.

kageyama turned to look at you, cleared his throat. “uh… you can stand up here with me… if you want.” he said that last bit under his breath, but you knew what he meant.

it was another invitation you accepted.

as soon as you stepped up, comfortably placed your hands on the railings too (where your gold-ringed pinky almost touched his), kageyama quietly began explaining the rules of the game. you didn’t even ask him to. he even told you the players’ names, what position was for what, certain strategies, pointing out the good plays. it was an overload of information, for you as a listener and for kageyama too as he jumped back and forth through his explanations.

the fluttery feeling in your stomach emerged gradually, like the times you had as a child when you’d measure your height on a random saturday morning and wonder how the markings on the wall surpassed the last time you stood there. you felt it whenever you saw his caller id on your phone screen, you felt it when you spotted him waiting for you at the bus stop, and you definitely felt a more intense version of it when you handed him a cd that you burned with a playlist you put together.

“i know people don’t use cds anymore, but… um, there are some… nice songs, i like… and you might like.” you stammered through your words more than what was necessary and it didn’t help that kageyama held out both hands and accepted it, while also trying to turn his face and hide the heat that rushed to it.

when kageyama tried out for one of the country’s most renowned v-league volleyball teams, you were the one to take him. nervousness didn’t show in his body language the way it used to on your first few dates. but he remained silent the entire drive to the venue and you did your best too not to detract his concentration.

you also walked alongside him from the parking lot to the front entrance. even though you knew you couldn’t enter, you wanted to walk every step with him, especially towards something so important. again, he maintained that quiet and in an attempt to substitute the ‘good luck!’ on the tip of your tongue, you instead reached out and linked your pinky in his. his finger locked itself with yours but he didn’t notice it until he reached the entrance and refused to let go.

it might’ve been the silent ‘thank you’ that sat on the tip of his tongue, because kageyama then planted a light kiss on your forehead before releasing your pinky and making his way inside.

regardless of whatever title kageyama held, be it the well-known genius setter, a gem of the national team (or the king, as hinata liked to remind you), you were proud to call him your soulmate and you thought that your story with him was the most beautiful you’ve ever heard.

contrary to belief, everything did not fall into place when your pinky fingers glowed in unison. you still had to try, he still had to go the extra mile. you overcame rough patches, carefully reached new milestones, braved through storms and winds that sought to convince you that it wouldn’t work out.

but this was kageyama tobio and he wouldn’t back down so easily.

as the sun began to set and the light turned into a shade that imitated the glow of your soulmate bond, you and kageyama took it as a signal to leave. the park bench was a nice place to rest but being at home sounded even nicer.

kageyama stood up first and was about to offer his hand to you when he noticed one of your shoelaces were untied. immediately, he bent down on a knee to do it for you, muttering something about how you should double it so it wouldn’t ever come undone and endanger you.

watching only the top of his head, you felt… _love_.

then something else caught his attention and one of his hands intuitively came up to your knee, his thumb brushing gently over the newly formed bruise.

he looked up. “did you fall again?”

“you make it sound like i do it often, tobio,” you laughed.

“you _do_ fall over often though.”

you shrugged at the blue patch of skin, could never really pinpoint when one would appear or why one would appear anyway.

then what he did next must’ve stemmed from the same love he reciprocated for you (you were certain he wasn’t even thinking when he did it), but kageyama briefly leaned in to kiss the bruise on your knee. nothing prolonged, just split-second peck. while you were stuck in a daze of how much you adored him, kageyama just stood up like he did nothing at all, offered an open palm and helped you up.

in the years that breezed by, when hand-holding was a given and you found home in his arms at night, you could make a list of all the small ways kageyama said ‘i love you’ without ever using his voice.

and though you could boast about what a long, long list that was, you’d always have that moment in the park in the back of your mind.


End file.
